


Makeover

by Beautiful_Doom



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Percy just wants to look nice, Percy wears make up, Queenie helps him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-24 23:26:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14365971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beautiful_Doom/pseuds/Beautiful_Doom
Summary: Percy looks awful after his rescue from Grindelwald's clutches. He wants to look nice again, but needs help with it. Queenie knows just what he needs and she's only too happy to help.





	Makeover

Percival Graves looked like utter shit.

He couldn’t deny it as he looked at himself in the mirror. He wasn’t a vain man, but he could agree that he’d been very handsome before his capture. His face had some color, his eyes didn’t have such big bags, his wrinkles weren’t so pronounced…

And now he looked like warmed over death. Hell, not even warmed over. Just death. A corpse trying to live again but having no life within him. 

He sighed, turning away from the mirror. Just one more thing that madman had stolen from him. He was tired, and he was tired of looking tired. He’d kill to regain that handsome face he’d sported before it had all gone to shit. Anything to help him get back to normal, whatever normal could be these days.

After a few days of it, he elected to remove the mirror from the wall. He couldn’t stand to see himself like this. He’d fallen so far, and his face only reminded him of all that had happened to strip away his strength. Grindelwald had left him bare and weak, and nothing could change that.

He wanted his face back. His handsome one. He wanted to be normal again. He wanted to put it all behind him and move on. Recover. He’d even gotten desperate enough to read a few women’s magazines to see if they had any secrets for him.

He stopped reading when they recommended cutting back on coffee…

An idea finally came to him when he noticed something. He’d been in a meeting when it suddenly hit him. Picquery looked so beautiful. So radiant. So… alive. Percy wondered for a moment why. She had a much more stressful job than him. Ah… it was her make up. Those lovely painted lips. That hint of red in her cheeks. The sharp lines that accented her eyes.

He wanted that.

He wanted to look like that.

He wanted to be handsome again.

But he could never approach Picquery about it. Things were already weird between them. Underneath all the professionalism, Percy could sense her guilt and discomfort. She blamed herself for not noticing. She blamed herself for letting him get captured. She blamed herself for so much and it wore on him.

For Merlin’s sake, he just wanted everything to go back to normal! Why couldn’t he have that?

If he couldn’t ask Picquery about make up, then who could he ask? The aurors he worked with didn’t wear a lot of make up. Tina didn’t wear much if any. Then again, she didn’t really need it.

Ah… but her sister did. Percy had seen Queenie plenty of times and she was always painted and perfected and looked stunning. Maybe she could help him out? He didn’t know her all that well…

It took him some time to work up the courage to speak to her. Why was it so difficult? He never got nervous like this, and he’d had wands pointed at him and spoke at public functions. He could do this!

He approached Queenie in an empty hall. No one was around to overhear them, and this would be his chance to ask.

“Queenie!” He called. The blonde beauty paused and turned towards him. She smiled at him waited for him to come closer. 

“Hi, Mr. Graves,” she said, always so cheerful. “How you doing?”

He could do this. He could ask her. He could get his handsome face back. He could…

“I… um… that is… Queenie, I…” but he couldn’t get it out. He couldn’t say the words. He pressed his lips together and decided to just bail. He’d learn to live with his face. It was his fault anyway. A punishment for getting caught-

“Oh honey…” Queenie’s voice was full of concern and care. She looked so sad for him, but she managed a small smile as she reached up and pat his cheek. “Don’t you worry. I’m going to make you look beautiful. You’ll see.”

Percy managed a smile of his own. Maybe this would really work.

\-----------------------

Queenie showed up bright and early the next morning at Percy’s residence. He’d declined meeting at hers because he was still a bit on the fence of letting anyone see him in make up. Would they think any less of him?

Queenie tapped his nose, startling him from his thoughts. 

“None of that, honey. Men have been wearing make up for centuries. No reason why they should stop now. Come sit down so I can see you better in the light. I brought a few things that you can keep. None of this really matches my skin tone anymore…” She said, pulling items from a small box.

Percy blinked in surprise at the amount of items she was pulling out.

“I’m going to need all that? I thought it was just a few things,” he said.

“We need to work on repairing your skin,” said Queenie. “That’s going to take a few extra steps. You’re dried out and need some hydration. Don’t worry, I have all the tools here.”

Queenie pat the chair and Percy obediently sat down. Queenie opened a jar of cream and began to apply it to Percy’s face. 

“This is a moisturizer I order from a catalogue. I’ll leave you the ad if you want some yourself. I really recommend it, honey. It’ll help you feel better and look better.”

It did feel good as she rubbed it into his skin. It had a slight tingle to it that was rather pleasant. After Queenie let it dry, she began to hold up different powders, trying to find a match.

“You want to get as close to your skin tone as possible,” she said, squinting her eyes. “But if you want to add color, you can go a shade up. Just can’t be too obvious or it’ll look like you’re wearing a mask.” She made a decision and opened the compact. “Now pale skin is all the rage these days, but nothing wrong with a little sun in your cheeks, I say.”

She dabbed a puff into the powder and began to apply it to Percy’s face. Percy pushed her hand away and turned to the side just in time for a sneeze and cough. He waved away the powder that had gotten into the air as Queenie chuckled.

“How can you wear this if it just makes you sneeze?” Percy asked, straightening back up. “Are you immune?”

“Something like that,” Queenie went back to dabbing at Percy’s face. “Women do a lot of stuff to look good. You never heard the phrase ‘Beauty is pain’? That’s because a few decades ago we were breaking our rib cages with tight corsets.”

Percy suddenly felt a huge amount of respect for women.

Queenie finished with the powder, taking the time to make it all look even. She’d always charmed her powders different colors because the ones she bought in the store always made her look to pale. She liked her sun kissed tone, thank you very much. To hell with what fashion said! This tone she was using was perfect for Percy. Still a little pale, but at least now he had a little color in his cheeks. 

“Can I see now?” Percy asked. The powder felt odd on his face, but he wanted to see how it looked. 

“Not yet. We need to do your eyes next,” said Queenie. “We’ll leave out the rouge for now. I don’t think you’ll need any, and it might clash.” She took out a tube and opened it. An odd looking brush popped out.

“What’s that?” Percy asked, looking at the tube. It looked almost like a paint brush. What was Queenie going to paint on him?

“Eyeliner,” said Queenie. “It’ll really bring out your eyes. I know you have those shadows, but with those covered up, your eyes look a little… sunken in.”

Percy looked away, ashamed for his lack of sleep. Queenie pat his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I should have phrased that better. I thought you weren’t getting enough sleep, and it makes sense. I’ll bring you some teas I use to help me relax. Should help you get to sleep, and you don’t have to worry about becoming dependent on them,” she said, offering him a smile.

“You’re already doing so much for me,” said Percy. “And we don’t even know each other that well. I’ve never done anything for you.”

“Don’t need you to,” said Queenie. “Being decent to someone else doesn’t cost a thing. Now open your eyes and look straight up. I’m going to put the liner on you. And then we’ll do the mascara. You always did have such nice lashes…”

Percy obeyed, looking up at the ceiling and trying not to blink as he felt the brush go around his eye. It’ll be interesting to see how this looks. Would it even work? Maybe he should just have Queenie stop-

“I said none of that, honey,” Queenie interrupted his thoughts. “If anyone gives you grief over wearing make up, you let me know and I’ll put something in their coffee.” She sounded so serious that Percy wondered if she would actually do it. Hell, would anyone even accuse her if she did? She was always so innocent.

“Ok, stay like that so I can do the mascara now,” Queenie switched out the makeup and began to apply the mascara. “You know, those magazines say you’d have to pluck your eyebrows, but I think they’re just fine. They’re nice eyebrows.”

Percy wiggled said eyebrows in confusion, but kept still. Women plucked them? Well of course, those arches he often saw couldn’t be natural, but plucking? As in… they ripped the hairs out one by one? He tried to imagine doing that, but ended up flinching. Thankfully, Queenie was already done.

“Take a look, honey,” She held up a mirror and Percy nearly gasped. 

The man in the mirror… it couldn’t be him. This man looked handsome… and radiant. He looked beautiful and powerful. 

But it was him.

Percy’s hands shook as he took the mirror for a better look. It wasn’t his former glory, but it was still amazing. His eyes were lined and sharp and deadly. His complexion was much brighter and healthier. He looked stunning.

“I’m glad you like it, honey,” Queenie pat his shoulder again. “Now go get dressed and I’ll see you at work. You can keep the cosmetics I brought. I wrote you out some instructions too.”

Percy’s response was a tight hug.

As he walked into work, he tried to remain confident. People were already looking at him, some with surprise and some with unreadable expressions. Had it worked? Had it backfired? What were they thinking? He wished he could read minds like Queenie. He had to know.

The stares continued as he entered the auror bullpen. Maybe it hadn’t worked. Maybe he should just go wash his face off now-

“Boss.”

Percy froze and turned to look at the auror who had addressed him. It was Collins, his second in command. The other aurors were smiling behind him.

“You look great today, Boss. We hope you’ve been feeling better,” said Collins.

Percy relaxed, his tension vanishing. He smiled back.

“I think… I’m going to be feeling a lot better now,” he said. “Now get me those reports on the blackmarket potions case. We have a lot of work to do.”

There was a chorus of ‘yes sir’ from the aurors as they scrambled to get to work.

It wasn’t as good as things had been before, but it was getting a lot better.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment if you liked it! Comments give me life!


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